famous entrepreneur

Richard Branson Sir Richard Branson (born July 18, 1950) a famed British entrepreneur, is best known for his widely successful Virgin brand, a banner that encompasses a variety of business organizations. Branson first achieved notoriety with Virgin Records, a record label that started out with multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield and introduced bands like the Sex Pistols and Culture Club to the world music scene. Known for his wacky exploits used to promote his businesses, Branson is keen on playful antagonisms, exemplified by his "Mine is bigger than yours" decals on the new Airbus A340-600 jets used by his airline. He has also made several unsuccessful attempts to fly in a hot air balloon around the world. The hot air balloon, called the "Virgin Atlantic Flyer," was the first hot air balloon ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was the largest ever flown at 60.513 m³ (2,137,000 ft³) volume, reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph (209 km/h).

In 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, a distance of 7,672 km (4,767 miles), but their track took them a claimed 10,885 km. This again broke all existing records with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 60.513 m³. He formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, and later failed in a 2000 bid to handle the National Lottery. He has also started a European short-haul airline, Virgin Express. In October 2003, he announced he would be teaming up with balloonist Steve Fossett to attempt to break the record for a non-stop flight around the world. A new aircraft, the GlobalFlyer, will be built specially for the attempt by Scaled Composites. In 1993 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Technology from Loughborough University. He became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by the Queen in 1999 for his business prowess and exuberance for the spirit of the United Kingdom. On September 25, 2004 he announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind SpaceShipOne to take paying passengers into suborbital space. He has guest starred, playing himself, on several television shows, including Friends, Baywatch and Only Fools and Horses. He also is the star of a new reality television show on Fox called The Rebel Billionaire where sixteen contestants will be tested for their entrepreneurship and their sense of adventure. Sir Richard appears at No. 85 on the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public). Branson's high public profile often leaves him open as a figure of satire - the 2000AD series Zenith featured a parody of Branson as a supervillian as at the time the comic's publisher and favoured distributor and the Virgin group were in competition.

Sir Isaac Newton Biography

SIR ISAAC NEWTON ( 1642-1727)

Isaac Newton's discoveries were so numerous and varied that many consider him to be the father of modern science. A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, Newton developed an intense interest in mathematics and the laws of nature which ultimately led to his two most famous works: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) and Opticks (1704). Newton helped define the laws of gravity and planetary motion, co-founded the field of calculus, and explained laws of light and color, among many other discoveries. (A famous story says that Newton uncovered the laws of gravity after being hit on the head by a falling apple. There is no proof that this story is true. However, his assistant John Conduitt later wrote that Newton had said he was inspired to think about gravity after seeing an apple fall in his garden around 1666.) Newton was knighted in 1705 and upon his death in 1727 was the first scientist given the honor of burial in Westminster Abbey.

Extra credit: Newton is often ranked 1-2 with Albert Einsteinamong history's leading physicists... Newton held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge -- a post later held by Stephen Hawking... Newton was good friends with astronomer Edmond Halley, of Halley's Comet fame... Newton was born the same year that Galileo died.

Sir Isaac Newton joins Benjamin Franklin and Dante in our loop Famous Pharmacists... He also appears with Cyrano de Bergerac in the loop Bopped on the Head

Albert Einstein Biography

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

To his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein became the most famous scientist of the 20th century. In 1905, while working in a Swiss patent office, Einstein published a paper proposing a "special theory of relativity," a groundbreaking notion which laid the foundation for much of modern physics theory. (The theory included his famous equation e=mc².) Einstein's work had a profound impact on everything from quantum theory to nuclear power and the atom bomb. He continued to develop and refine his early ideas, and in 1915 published what is known as his general theory of relativity. By 1920 Einstein was internationally renowned; he won the NobelPrize in 1921, not for relativity but for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. In 1933 Einstein moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies until the end of his life. Einstein's genius is often compared with that of Sir Isaac Newton; in 2000 Time magazine named him the leading figure of the 20th century.

Extra credit: Einstein was famously rumpled and frizzy-haired, and over time his image has become synonymous with absent-minded genius... He sent a famous letter to Franklin Roosevelt in 1939, warning that Germany was developing an atomic bomb and urging Allied research toward the same goal... Einstein married Mileva Maric in 1903. They had two sons: Hans Albert (b. 1904) and Eduard (b. 1910). They also had a daughter born before their marriage, Leiserl (b. 1902). She apparently was given for adoption or died in infancy. Mileva and Albert were divorced in 1914... He married his cousin Elsa Löwenthal in 1919, and they remained married until her death in 1936... The Institute for Advanced Studies has no formal link to Princeton University; however, according the IAS website, the two institutions "have many historic ties and ongoing relationships"... The Albert Einstein College of Medicine opened in New York City in 1955. It is part of Yeshiva University. Einstein did not create the school, but gave his permission to have his name used.

FACEBOOK

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, which he founded in 2004. Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company. He leads the design of Facebook's service and development of its core technology and infrastructure. Mark attended Harvard University and studied computer science before moving the company to Palo Alto, California.